I Am the Ruler

He Donglou whistled. Carried away by the moment, he simply hooked an elbow over Ronan's shoulder. "I'd bet they're here for you! Don't worry, we've got booze, pills, oil, and every kind of equipment. Want your big brother to give some on-site guidance...?"

Ronan just stared at him until the guy plugged his own mouth with a wineglass, only then letting him off. By then, the bravado He Donglou had borrowed from the alcohol had been thoroughly snuffed out. He looked a little wilted, yet he still stubbornly crowded beside Ronan, babbling one irrelevant thing after another.

He Donglou was making an "effort," but Ronan's responses remained lukewarm, leaving him rather frustrated. What he did not know was that Ronan was observing him with great interest.

In his search for inspiration, Ronan had been closely examining the deep structure of the turbid current of human hearts from every angle and level, including through the Altar Spiderweb. He Donglou was also a "window."

Most of the people around the rooftop were in chaos, like molecules moving disorderly without any direction. That was perfectly normal. Even if they were not normally a mess, alcohol and drugs would definitely make them so.

He Donglou himself was also a mess, but upon closer examination, his sporadic words and actions clearly displayed a pattern.

Was He Donglou really drunk?

There was no faking that. Yet even in this state, he still instinctively tried to draw closer to Ronan, feared Ronan's reactions, and adjusted himself accordingly—never mind how clumsy he was.

His companions, on the other hand, such as that Breast-Touching Woman from the elevator, truly acted and spoke without restraint. Once they reached the rooftop, she had immediately let herself loose and vanished without a trace. She was far more at ease than He Donglou.